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methods of work continued ¼ -in. straight bit Trim dovetail waste on the router table Here’s a neat way to clean out waste between handcut dovetails and pins, without cutting beyond the baseline. First, mark out the tails (or the pins if you prefer) and use a handsaw to cut the sidewalls. Remove most of the material between tails with a coping saw, leaving about 1⁄8 in. of waste at the bottom. Now, use a small straight router bit in a router table to clean out the rest of the waste. Use the fence to register the workpiece and to ensure the bit cuts to a consistent depth between tails. Don’t let the bit slip into the tails. This process leaves the bottom of the waste area perfectly square to the sides and perfectly straight and flat. All that remains is a small amount of chisel cleanout in the corners. The waste between pins can be cleaned out the same way. —BILL LAW, Cincinnati, Ohio Another way to fl atten warped boards with your planer One of the most common ways to flatten a board in a planer is to glue sacrificial rails to the board and then rip off the rails once the planing work is done (see Jerry Lyons’s method in FWW #208, p. 16). My approach eliminates those rails in favor of reusable 1⁄2-in. by 1⁄2-in. skid strips dry-fitted into grooves routed into one surface of the board. Joint the edges of the board and clamp it between two guide rails (I used aluminum channel, but you could use wood beams or steel angle iron) so that the two high opposite corners are near the top of the rails. Attach the router to a piece of stiff plywood wide enough to span the guide rails, make a 1⁄2-in. clearance hole for the bit, and screw a couple of guide cleats to 1. CLAMP BOARD BETWEEN GUIDE RAILS 2. ROUT GROOVES FOR SKID STRIPS Guide rails made from aluminum channel High corner Guide cleats ride along rails. Grooves will be different depths but will be coplanar. the edges. Adjust the bit so that it makes a shallow, flat-bottom groove for the whole length of the board. Now flip the jig and rout a second groove along the opposite side. You now have grooves that are exactly coplanar at their bottoms. Remove the warped board from the jig and insert the skid strips into the grooves. Secure them with some doublefaced tape or a few dabs of hot glue. Run the warped board through the planer with the strips down. When the upper surface is flat, remove the strips, and plane the other side. Save the strips for next time. —BRIAN DOSS, St. Butler, Pa. 3. RUN BOARD THROUGH PLANER Router jig made from stiff plywood Hardwood skid strips, ½ in. square Chisel out waste in corners. Fence ensures consistent depth of cut between tails or pins. Baseline Skid strips on bottom High corner 16 FINE WOODWORKING After flattening this side, remove the skid strips and plane the other side.